Barker Dam, Nederland - Boulder County - Colorado
Nederland or Netherland
The Town of Nederland is located high up in the Rocky Mountains of Boulder County, Colorado, population 1,337.
Ned began its history as the site of the mill for silver ore from the rich silver mines at Caribou (now a ghost town five miles away) and, during World War I, for tungsten ore from surrounding mines. Nederland was named by a Dutch mining company that purchased several mines in the area. The word Nederland is Dutch for “The Netherlands”, meaning low lands. It was named this because the large boom town at the time was Caribou, a town above Nederland, and Nederland was the lower lands that many traveled down to for supplies. Today it is better known as a gateway to outdoor recreation in the nearby Indian Peaks and the James Peak Wilderness Areas. Nederland is located 15 miles west of Boulder.
On Barker Meadow Reservoir within Roosevelt National Forest, Nederland hosts two major events every year: NedFest (aka The Nederland Music & Arts Festival) and also the international famous Frozen Dead Guy Days.
NedFest
NedFest (aka The Nederland Music & Arts Festival) is Nederland’s annual three-day outdoor music, microbrew and camping event. It is located on the shores of Barker Meadow Reservoir in the mountains of Nederland, Colorado… just 17 miles west of (3,000 ft above) Boulder, Colorado. The music featured at NedFest is in the bluegrass, jazz, jamband and world-beat genres. The first NedFest happened in 1996 at Nederland’s Chipeta Park. After a short hiatus it was resurrected in August 1999 at its current site, The Jeff Guercio Memorial Baseball Park, where it has been held ever since. Four to six bands headline each day with solo, duo or trio ‘tweener’ sets between each band.
Frozen Dead Guy Days
Frozen Dead Guy Days is an annual celebration held in the town of Nederland, Colorado.
In 1989, a Norwegian citizen named Trygve Bauge brought the corpse of his recently deceased grandfather, Bredo Morstøl, to the United States. The body was preserved on dry ice for the trip, and stored in liquid nitrogen at the Trans Time cryonics facility from 1990 to 1993.
In 1993, Bredo was returned to dry ice and transported to the town of Nederland, where Trygve and his mother Aud planned to create a cryonics facility of their own. When Trygve was deported from the United States for overstaying his visa, his mother, Aud, continued keeping her father’s body cryogenically frozen in a shack behind her unfinished house.
Aud was eventually evicted from her home for living in a house with no electricity or plumbing, in violation of local ordinances. At that time, she told a local reporter about her father’s body, and the reporter went to the local city hall in order to let them know about Aud’s fears that her eviction would cause her father’s body to thaw out.
The story caused a sensation. In response, the city added a broad new provision to Section 7-34 of its Municipal Code, “Keeping of bodies”, outlawing the keeping of “the whole or any part of the person, body or carcass of a human being or animal or other biological species which is not alive upon any property”. However, because of the publicity that had arisen, they made an exception for Bredo, a grandfather clause. Trygve secured the services of Delta Tech, a local Environmental company, to keep the cryonic facility running. Bo Shaffer, CEO of Delta Tech, is known as The Iceman for transporting the dry ice necssary for cryonic preservation to the IC Institute for over 12 years. About 10 years ago, the local Tuff Shed supplier built a new shed to keep him in. In honor of the town’s unique resident, Nederland holds an annual celebration, first started in 2002.
Frozen Dead Guy Days is celebrated from Friday through Sunday on the first full weekend of March. Coffin races, a slow-motion parade, and “Frozen Dead Guy” lookalike contests are held. A documentary on “Grandpa Bredo”, called Grandpa’s in the Tuff Shed, is shown. A newer version of the film, Grandpa’s Still in the Tuff Shed, was premiered in Nederland on March 7, 2003.
Other events include a tour of the Tuff Shed where Grandpa is still frozen; a “polar plunge” for those brave enough to go swimming in Colorado in early March (which generally requires breaking through the ice); a dance, called “Grandpa’s Blue Ball”; pancake breakfasts; a market showcasing local artists; snowshoe races, and snow sculpture contests. Glacier Ice Cream, headquartered in the nearby city of Boulder, makes a flavor specifically for the festival (named, appropriately enough, Frozen Dead Guy), consisting of fruit-flavored blue ice cream mixed with crushed Oreo cookies and sour gummy worms.
Although Trygve and Aud filed a complaint against Nederland involving money and naming rights in 2005, Frozen Dead Guy Days is still kicking, and according to the Official website, the most recent celebration was held March 6-8, 2009.
(source: wikipedia)
Barker Resiviour, Nederland Colorado
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